Stephane Rogier, the Head of the Print Business Unit at HP Inc, speaks to ME Printer about how Managed Print Services can help businesses lower operational costs on a long run
What market do you see for Managed Print Services in the region?
Companies in the region are investing in integrated printing solutions that take the administrative and financial pain out of document production and turn it into a scalable service fit for a truly multimedia environment.
Currently, as the number of SMEs in the region continue to grow, they will play an integral role in driving the growth for MPS offerings. In the UAE for example, 95% of businesses in Dubai fall into the SME category so there is lots of opportunities for new business leads and further strengthening the MPS business community with new customer wins and relationships. Also important to our growth is maintaining our existing relationships with large enterprise and public sector clients with new innovative MPS offerings that addresses all their business printing needs.
Which industry verticals can Managed Print Services help?
Today, the sectors that are adopting managed print services include telecoms, financial services, education, healthcare, and government. The government and public sector continue to be one of the biggest market segments in the Middle East due to their high amount of paperwork and high reference for security of these confidential documents/data. Meanwhile, it is also worth noting that MPS are now attracting interests from small and medium-sized businesses as they continue to discover and embrace the benefits brought by MPS.
How can Managed Print Services benefit companies in the region?
According to IDC, businesses can save as much as 30% annually by outsourcing print management to a service provider. Today, organisations are highly influenced by the cost benefits offered by MPS by reducing the operational costs of their printing activities. This is one of the major factors attracting organizations to adopt MPS.
The need for the streamlining of the printing workflow and for monitoring and control of printer usage by employees have added to the cost reduction benefits achieved through the implementation of MPS. The growth of the MPS market is also expected to be driven by environmental benefits such as a reduction in paper wastage and efficient use of energy achieved through the implementation of MPS.
At HP Inc., we offer customers a tailored solution that will enable them to control cost, secure data, simplify supplies and streamline the printing process. We will soon introduce HP Smart Device Services, a set of cloud tools and device-based sensing capabilities, designed to dramatically enhance the service experience. This offering monitor and diagnoses many services needs to minimize downtime and cut costs.
With strong support from our regional channel partners, we also help assess existing print infrastructure and advise on the best mix of products. This enables our customers to strike the right balance between number of printers and convenience for their employees.
What are the challenges in adopting Managed Print Services? How can they be addressed?
One of the main challenges faced by MPS providers lies in security. With more enterprises emphasizing on the importance of security due to the increase in number of cyberattacks on network printers, it is imperative for MPS vendors to strengthen their current offerings to adapt to the constantly changing business environment.
Considering this, HP Inc. has redesigned its MPS offerings to help protect corporate print environments against cyberattacks with the world’s most secure printing. HP is the unique vendor able to secure the 3 main components of printing – HP secure the Data, the Device and the Documents. Beyond product offerings, the new HP Secure MPS capabilities include advanced security professional services, software solutions and expanded core delivery capabilities for customers’ multi-vendor print fleets to enable customer to migrate to a best-in-class secured environment.
